Face mask having replaceable sanitary liner

ABSTRACT

A disposable sanitary liner for a protecting face mask has a liner base shaped to fit within a face mask, the liner base made from one or more layers of non-woven fabric. A plurality of self adhesive strips and/or tabs is disposed on a surface of the liner base to be oriented away from a face of a user. A layer of wax coated plastic or paper coated plastic is applied to the plurality of self adhesive strips and/or tabs on a surface thereof opposed to the liner base.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Priority is claimed from U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/069,166 filed on Aug. 24, 2020 and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Not Applicable.

BACKGROUND

This disclosure relates to the field of personal protective equipment, namely face masks used for control of disease transmission. More specifically, the disclosure relates to structures for such masks.

Face masks have come into widespread use by the general public as a result of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. Face masks include cloth coverings for the nose and mouth and disposable paper-based masks. Cloth masks are durable, but require frequent washing to maintain sanitary properties. Disposable paper-based masks may be more expensive to manufacture by reason of the need to include ear straps or similar devices to enable affixing the mask to the user's face.

SUMMARY

One aspect of the present disclosure is a disposable sanitary liner for a protecting face mask. The liner has a liner base shaped to fit within a face mask, the liner base made from one or more layers of non-woven fabric. A plurality of self adhesive strips and/or tabs is disposed on a surface of the liner base to be oriented away from a face of a user. A layer of wax coated plastic or paper coated plastic is applied to the plurality of self adhesive strips and/or tabs on a surface thereof opposed to the liner base.

In some embodiments, the fabric comprises cotton or materials commonly used in non-woven fabrics, such as polypropylene, polystryrene, polycarbonate, polyethylene, or polyester.

Some embodiments further comprise an imprinted or embossed device on a surface of the liner oriented toward the face of the user.

Other aspects and possible advantages will be apparent from the description and claims that follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a view of an example embodiment of a mask liner according to the present disclosure, for the side facing the wearer.

FIG. 2 shows a view of the example embodiment of mask liner on the side facing a mask.

FIG. 3 shows a paper cover removable to expose adhesive strips in the view in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 shows the example embodiment of mask liner in FIG. 1 affixed to a face mask.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows an example embodiment of a face mask liner 10 according to the present disclosure. The mask liner 10 may be made from two or more layers of non-woven fabric such as cotton or synthetic fiber, e.g., polypropylene, polystryrene, polycarbonate, polyethylene, or polyester to form a liner base 12. The liner base 12 may be imprinted or embossed with a design 14 to indicate the side of the liner 10 faces the wearer during use in a face mask (see FIG. 4). Dimensions shown in FIG. 1 are examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows the mask liner 12 in view of the opposite side as shown in FIG. 1. The view in FIG. 2 illustrates possible placement of self-adhesive strips 16 and/or tabs to enable releasable affixing of the mask liner 10 to a face mask (see FIG. 4). The self-adhesive strips and/or tabs 16 may be arranged in any convenient pattern to retain the liner 10 on the interior surface of a face mask (FIG. 4) such that movement of the face mask does not cause folding or other dislocation of the mask liner 10.

Referring to FIG. 3, the self-adhesive strips and/or tabs 16 may be covered prior to use of the liner 10 by a single sheet of wax coated paper or plastic coated paper 18, of a composition to enable easy removal of the paper 18 from the self-adhesive strips or tabs (16 in FIG. 2). The single sheet of wax coated or plastic coated paper 18 may be affixed to the liner 10 during manufacture.

FIG. 4 shows the mask liner 10 affixed to an inner surface of a face mask 20. The face mask 20 may be made from cloth or any similar permeable material that is intended to be cleaned or washed for extended use. The adhesive strips or tabs shown in FIG. 2 may removably affix the mask liner 10 to the face mask 20.

In light of the principles and example embodiments described and illustrated herein, it will be recognized that the example embodiments can be modified in arrangement and detail without departing from such principles. The foregoing discussion has focused on specific embodiments, but other configurations are also contemplated. In particular, even though expressions such as in “an embodiment,” or the like are used herein, these phrases are meant to generally reference embodiment possibilities, and are not intended to limit the disclosure to particular embodiment configurations. As used herein, these terms may reference the same or different embodiments that are combinable into other embodiments. As a rule, any embodiment referenced herein is freely combinable with any one or more of the other embodiments referenced herein, and any number of features of different embodiments are combinable with one another, unless indicated otherwise. Although only a few examples have been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible within the scope of the described examples. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure as defined in the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A disposable sanitary liner for a protecting face mask, comprising: a liner base shaped to fit within a face mask, the liner base made from one or more layers of non-woven fabric; a plurality of self adhesive strips and/or tabs disposed on a surface of the liner base to be oriented away from a face of a user; and a layer of wax coated plastic or paper coated plastic applied to the plurality of self adhesive strips and/or tabs on a surface thereof opposed to the liner base.
 2. The sanitary liner of claim 1 wherein the fabric comprises cotton.
 3. The sanitary liner of claim 1 wherein the fabric comprises at least one of polypropylene, polystryrene, polycarbonate, polyethylene and polyester.
 4. The sanitary liner of claim 1 further comprising an imprinted or embossed device on a surface of the liner oriented toward the face of the user. 